Crowds gathered across spots in Thanet yesterday evening (August 12) to witness the partial solar eclipse.
A crowd of more than 1000 people gathered at the Kings Steps in Margate and around 1,000 turned out to join the Ramsgate stargazers at Ramsgate Boating Pool.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Earth, Moon and Sun align. The Moon passes in front of the Sun and blocks its light, casting a small shadow on Earth.
The partial solar eclipse yesterday saw around 90-96% of the Sun covered by the Moon.
The last UK partial solar eclipse took place on 29 March 2025, when around 30-40% of the Sun was obscured at the maximum.
If you want to see a total solar eclipse in the UK, you’re going to have to wait until 2090!
There was also be a chance overnight to watch the Perseid meteor shower between midnight and 5.30am.
As comets get close to the Sun, they heat up and pieces break off. If the debris ends up in the Earth’s path around the Sun, it can slam into our atmosphere at speeds of between 7–45 miles per second.
The average speed for a Perseid meteor is 36 miles per second. The air in front of the meteor is squashed and heated to thousands of degrees Celsius.
The smaller meteors vaporise and leave behind a bright trail of light. Larger meteors can explode as fireballs.
It was an absolutely stunning atmosphere down at the boating pool and along the grassy area in front. An evening I’ll always remember, for both the eclipse itself and the looks of wonder on people’s faces, young and old. Just lovely.
I missed the eclipse because I forgot about it and was in the shower! I have no memory of the one in 1999, but I do remember the one in 1954 when our science teacher blackened some glass shards with a candle to see it with. Once you have seen one eclipse you have seen them all.